Category Archives: Personal Life

Posted on by
Reply

But what about privacy when speaking to your devices?
One of the things that I have found using wearable computers and various devices is that there are times that you want privacy. Using voice recognition is difficult in a loud place filled with other conversations and most of the current systems are not the best at discriminating a voice, unless it is by the loudness. There are, in addition, times that I want to be able to interact with my computer privately without others being aware. For example, I might be working on business applications, wanting to call someone and keep the name private, or I might want to be making “notes” to my computer while interacting with another person.

All of these, IMHO, indicate that computer interaction can be by voice, but only for a small segment of the interaction that I want to have.

Speaking of Voice Recognition. Intel, Microsoft and other top technology companies form a group to develop speech-enabled software that will allow communication without pushing buttons. Elisa Batista reports from Mountain View, California. [Wired News]

Posted on by
Reply

More on Ginger …
So this is a late post … and everyone has read or seen “Ginger” by now. Or most everyone. I wanted to post some links, and also make a few comments.

The most amazing thing about the Segway HT is that we are now seeing some of the potential that Ray Kurzweil alludes to. The Segway is an amazing device that can actually “balance” … and it can do so with a human rider! How can it do this? The same way that a human does! What we are seeing is when technology begins to reproduce or exceed the some of the same capabilities of a human being. The Segway HT is able to detect motion and “balance” (much like the inner ear), it is able to compute corrections (much like the brain and nervous system), and it is able to move itself (much like the muscles in our legs) to stay balanced.

I want one of these really bad … not only to experience, but to own one of the first pieces of a whole new realm of possibility!

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-8020427.html?tag=mn_hd

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,186660,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/2001/segway/index.html

Posted on by
Reply

Down at Comdex … creating the future …
I’m down in Las Vegas … spent the whole day, and will be here all day tomorrow as well. It’s been a fun day so far. The registration was light, there was security present at the doors, and the number of people on the floor was light.

I’m walking the floor with a good friend, John Pugh, who I haven’t seen in quite a while. I’s a blast to get a chance to brainstorm with him … spew ideas at him … and catch up on things.

It’s been a fun show, and as usual I spent my time looking through all of the little booths that are here representing the various Pacific Rim countries – Korea, Thailand, Tiawan, etc. I have to say that the Korea booths were filled with some cool stuff … a lot of wireless, new funky computer cases, and some other cool products. I barely made it half way through the Tiawan section, and so we are going to pick up there tomorrow morning.

I spent some time at the Xybernaut booth … I’ll be working closely with them as we move forward with HumanXtensions. Here at the show, most of the folks are oriented towards WinCE, Palm, and the new PocketPC 2002 … but Xybernaut and few others are seeing the future … full blown PCs with full power operating systems.

I found a large number of interesting technologies and products … I found the LCD panels that I wanted for one application … and I’m searching for the others tomorrow. I found some cool peripherals, and several interesting security peripherals. There are large numbers of “Internet Appliances”, or appliance developer kits …

I’ll be writing all about this in the upcoming month or so … there is a lot going on in the market place!

Posted on by
Reply

Computers in the car … more coming soon …
I have been slowly outfitting my car with a variety of computers and applications. I see this as a big growth area as we create more powerful applications for navigation and communications … many of which will be used in our cars.

So far I am using my computer for both MP3 audio and navigation. I am using WinAmp (my favorite MP3 player) and Microsoft Streets & Trips. There are some other cool things that I’ve been working on … I have wireless in the car using a DLink 802.11b USB device so that when my car is parked in my garage or driveway I can remotely connect and transfer MP3s back and forth. I also have the GPS connected with the Microsoft software for all navigation.

My next step is to get Jabber working over a cheap CDPD modem for full time presence and instant messaging from my car!

Motorola takes the driver’s seat. video The electronics maker announces deals with BMW and Audi to equip cars with telecommunications and computing capabilities. [CNET Tech News]

Posted on by
Reply

Another cool VC is formed …

This is yet another VC firm being created at the right time … I like the fact that it is a Microsoft exec, and they are looking for the creative start-ups …

Microsoft veteran to fund start-ups. Hoping to score some dot-com downturn bargains, Peter Atkins is leaving the software giant to start a venture capital firm for high-tech media and services start-ups. [CNET Tech News]

Posted on by
Reply

Almost a cool idea … digital picture frames …
These guys are on the right track, and I can only see this market growing and becoming more distributed. They have a picture frame with a LCD panel, which can download digital photos to display in a “slide show” format. It’s a great idea.

The area that I can see this changing is again when there are “standards based” picture frames that download via HTTP from any web site. Then I can set this up and run it without having to subscribe to a service … and I’m ensured that the product will last a life time!

Ceiva – http://www.ceiva.com/

Posted on by
Reply

I never even thought about this … the TRS-80 alive!
I started my microprocessor programming on a TRS-80 Model-I … and I still have it around in the basement! I never even thought about the fact that (of course) someone was going to write an emulator for these old boxes. It only makes sense … if MAME can be created to emulate the old game machines, then it was just a matter of time until the old Z80 machines like the TRS-80 were emulated …

Catweasel to DMK 2.1 (Default). Use a Catweasel to copy any SD or DD floppy to TRS-80 emulator image format. [freshmeat.net]

Posted on by
Reply

Hitachi, Shimadzu, Xybernaut and their wearable directions …
This is a very good press release for all of these companies, IMHO. Shimadzu is making some great new hi-res (800×600) color googles, and Hitachi has coupled this with a WinCE machine. Xybernaut is picking up the unit and going to resell it under their name … something that I think will be a good competitor to the Compaq iPaq. Read more about the WIA here …

Posted on by
Reply

YES! I agree completely! And I’m building one now …
I just bought a new LCD monitor for the car … it’ll run on 12vdc, and I’m looking to test it out this weekend on our trip to Goblin Valley! We’ll be hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon, and then wandering around the goblins … this is going to be a wild trip! This will be the first testing of my “in car” computer (which I intend to permanently mount in the car), but also using wearable computers in the wildernes … full GPS tracking, and using the USGS DEMS maps …

Smart Cars Net Wireless Users. Forget trying to look for directions or shop on a handheld, auto-loving Americans will prefer dashboard delivery of information. Elisa Batista reports from the Mobile Commerce conference in San Jose, California. [Wired News]